2015-2016 Scorecard Report

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Minister's Message

As the Minister responsible for federal regulatory policy, I am pleased to provide Canadians with an update on the implementation of federal government initiatives to reduce regulatory administrative burden and improve service and predictability. Overall, Canada’s federal regulatory regime is now more open and transparent, which benefits everyone.

The Cabinet Directive on Regulatory Management, the cornerstone of Canada’s regulatory regime, is undergoing a review, and this process presents a unique opportunity to consider improvements to the federal regulatory policy framework that advance and protect the public interest. We are starting from a strong foundation as noted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which scores Canada as above the OECD average for all OECD indicators of regulatory policy and governance.Footnote1

This is an ambitious and challenging agenda but one that I am confident will realize benefits for all Canadians.

Original signed by:

The Honourable Scott Brison, President of the Treasury Board

Introduction

This is the fourth annual report on reducing regulatory administrative burden and improving service and predictability; the previous three annual reports were referred to as the Annual Scorecard Report. This report also meets the legislative annual reporting requirement of the Red Tape Reduction Act. It covers six initiatives that have been implemented over the years:

• the One-for-One Rule, which seeks to control the growth of regulatory administrative burden on business arising from regulations
• the small business lens, which requires a sensitivity to small business impacts in the design of regulations
• service standards for high-volume regulatory authorizations and public reporting on regulators’ performance against those standards
• forward regulatory plans, where departments and agencies post regulatory proposals expected over the next 24-month period, as well as opportunities for stakeholders to engage regulators on the proposed initiatives
• interpretation policies, which give businesses clarity on how regulators interpret regulations
• an Administrative Burden Baseline, which counts and discloses the total number of administrative requirements imposed by regulations on businesses

One-for-one Rule

The One-for-One Rule (the Rule) seeks to control the growth of administrative burden on business arising from regulations. When a new or amended regulation increases the administrative burden on business, the Rule requires regulators to offset an equal amount of administrative burden cost. As well, the Rule also requires regulators to remove an existing regulation each time they introduce a new regulation that imposes new administrative burden on business.

The Rule applies to all regulatory changes that impose new administrative burden costs on business. There are, however, three circumstances where the Treasury Board may exempt regulations from the application of the Rule:

1. regulations related to tax or tax administration
2. regulations where Her Majesty in right of Canada has no discretion regarding the requirements that must be included in the regulation due to international or legal obligations, including the imposition of international sanctions or the implementation of Supreme Court of Canada decisions
3. regulations in emergency, unique or exceptional circumstances, including if compliance with the Rule’s requirements would compromise public health, public safety or the Canadian economy

In 2014, the Red Tape Reduction Act gave the One-for-One Rule the force of law. The act and its associated regulations also require that an annual report on the application of the One-for-One Rule be published.

The main findings on changes in administrative regulatory burden and the overall number of regulations for the current reporting year (2015 to 2016) are as follows:

• 88% of final regulatory changes that were approved by the Governor in Council and non-Governor in Council authorities published in the Canada Gazette either reduced or did not impose any new administrative burden on business
• annual net administrative burden to business was reduced by approximately $6.3 million
• 13 regulations were repealed, resulting in a total net reduction of 12 regulations from the stock of federal regulations

Since the 2012 to 2013 fiscal year, the year the One-for-One Rule was introduced, there are 32 fewer net regulations and approximately a $30 million decrease in net administrative burden.

Although the statistics cover the period that the Rule has been in place (that is, since the 2012 to 2013 fiscal year), it is difficult to determine what proportion of the savings realized and the net reduction in regulations can be directly attributed to the Rule’s application. This is because departments and agencies were already engaging in burden and/or regulatory title reduction efforts.

Details of the findings on the application of the One-for-One Rule in the 2015 to 2016 fiscal year are provided in Appendix A. A one-page summary of the findings is found in Appendix B.

Other Reforms

In addition to the One-for-One Rule, the following reform areas are assessed annually. An overview of the results achieved for each reform area for the 2015 to 2016 fiscal year are provided in snapshot format in Appendices C to G. Assessment results by federal portfolio or entity are provided in Appendix H.

Small business lens

The purpose of the small business lens is to require sensitivity to small business impacts in the regulatory development process. Consultation and analysis help develop a clear understanding of business realities at the earliest stages of regulatory design.

The lens applies to regulatory proposals that impact small business and have nationwide cost impacts of over $1 million annually. The key statistical summary findings are in Appendix C.

Service standards for high-volume regulatory authorizations

Service standards provide businesses with a clear indication of how long it will normally take to obtain a decision from a regulator, allowing stakeholders to factor these timelines into their planning. Departments and agencies are required to post service standards and service performance for high-volume regulatory authorizations on their acts and regulations web pages.

In addition to timeliness standards and service targets, regulators are required to establish a feedback mechanism so that Canadians can raise service issues if expectations have not been met. Providing feedback on the service that businesses receive when they apply for an authorization can help regulators improve service and recalibrate their timeliness commitments over time.

Over the years, the threshold for developing and publishing service standards has shifted. It now requires that regulators publish service standards for a much larger number of regulatory authorizations. Departments and agencies must also keep their public lists of service standards up to date. The key statistical summary findings are in Appendix D.

Administrative Burden Baseline

The Administrative Burden Baseline (ABB) provides Canadians with a metric on the total number of requirements in federal regulations and associated forms that impose administrative burden on business. The baseline is to be updated annually, contributing to the openness and transparency of the federal regulatory system.

The ABB was introduced in the 2014 to 2015 fiscal year and now provides Canadians with information on 38 departments and agencies. The key statistical summary findings are in Appendix E.

Forward regulatory plans

Forward regulatory plans describe anticipated regulatory changes or proposals that a department or agency intends to bring forward over the next 24-month period. Federal departments and agencies make their forward regulatory plans publicly available on their acts and regulations web pages, giving businesses and other stakeholders a notice of upcoming regulations that impact them and an opportunity to engage regulators on regulatory design and plan for implementation.

This information is updated by departments and agencies every six months. The key statistical summary findings are in Appendix F.

Interpretation policies

Interpretation policies help make regulations and compliance requirements easier to understand by outlining the commitments, practices and tools to be applied by regulators when providing Canadians and businesses with information and guidance on regulatory obligations to be met. This helps reduce administrative burden on Canadians and businesses in particular, who might otherwise expend additional time and resources to interpret regulatory requirements.

As of March 31, 2015, departments and agencies have been required to post improvement priorities, based on consultations with their stakeholders. This year, departments and agencies were assessed on their state of readiness to meet the deadline of March 31, 2017, which requires them to update Canadians on progress achieved in implementing improvement priorities. The key statistical summary findings are in Appendix G.